Hi lads/ladettes, Long time no speak. Due to (sorry) more important and urgent matters in my own life I have had to put this board on the backburner but I will try to come on more these days, now I'm a little more settled. Thoughts on yesterday. 3 points is 3 points but it was a mixed bag from my perspective. At times in the first half especially we played some really neat stuff, especially the move which saw N'Zonzi down the right side almost setting up Crouch. I thought we allowed Taarabt way too much space to control the game, didn't like how we backed off him, especially Ryan and Huth. N'Zonzi seemed to agree when he got booked as he seemed to vent his frustration at Ryan afterwards. I'm glad Pulis changed to 4-4-2 half way through the first half and it was no surprise to me that Walters looked as good as he had done all season during that time rather than out on the wings. It was also no surprise to me that we looked much more effective, even if it meant Charlie was out on the right. I didn't agree with Kightly being dropped as I think he's been very consistent this season and hasn't let us down much. I was very disappointed in Etherington's performance and attitude in this game. He looked very unlike himself, almost looked like he didn't really care at times. Kightly gave us the extra bit of energy we needed in the last quarter and for me quietened the game down for us somewhat. Very happy with Jones' performance when he came on, showed a great attitude and willing to work hard, put himself about and set up Kightly for what should have been a 2nd goal. Also, the offside between Jonny and Jones at the end was so stupid it was funny. Daft sods. That now means 4 clean sheets in 5 home league games, with only 1 goal conceded and against Man City. Not sure I would swap Ryan and Huthy for any central pairing in the league right now. They're both exceptional. Hope they stay for a long time as they could become legends if they do stay for a long time. Overall I think a draw would have been fairer and if any team deserved to win it was QPR but I'll take it!
welcome back mate, personally I thought that QPR might just have deserved the win to be honest, they created more chances and looked the much more dangerous team. I thought that yesterday was one of the worst days in TPs managerial career, where do we start?, firstly playing 1 upfront is a joke at home to the bottom of the table team, then we have the 2 substitutions...............dear oh dear oh dear, how can you take off the only person who scores for us and put on the biggest donkey in footballing history?, secondly Adam being replaced by Whitehead????????????????, TP is making the changes on purpose now I am convinced of it!!!, nobody can be that poor at making decisions. To be honest im losing all interest at the moment and im not enjoying watching them one bit. Everyone form other teams for years have been coming onto the Stoke board saying that we are the worst team in the prem and I think its time we all face facts and admit that we are. Everyone on here have rightly said that QPR are rock bottom and that they are one of the worst teams in the prem, they probably are to be fair but for long spells of the game they played us off the park and created a lot of good chances, so where does that leave us?, are we worse than the worst team in the prem? .......................after watching the last 3 games DEAD RIGHT WE ARE THE WORST TEAM IN THE PREM!. I said on another thread to try to be positive but why should we?, he plays very negative and sets up nearly EVERY game to get a draw. ITS ****ING EMBARASSING!!!. I dont come on here much anymore and how its going its going to be less and less, so to all of you who pay every week to watch stoke you have my upmost respect, however I wont be wasting another penny until the prick that is TP goes. Yes we won yeaterday but if we play like we have for the last 3 games there is only one way we will be going and thats down sorry for the rant lads, it seems a bit weird to be posting this after a win but ITS JUST NOT GOOD ENOUGH!!!!
I didn't mind Whitehead coming on as he is there to make us more solid when we are defending a lead. He is our dog of war and we did look a lot more organised in the midfield when he came on and I think going forward even when Adam went off we still looked decent going forward mainly through Kightly and Jones.
Jones is garbage Sarge and he proved that when after only 10 minutes of play he was strolling back to get on side. Lazy and useless on the ground. I would sooner have Jerome everyday of the week.
Welcome back Sgt - missed your input! I think the first thing to say is that if we hadnt have won I think the general perception would be a more severe slice of doom and gloom. The second thing is that results are all that matter and die hard TP fans have hid behind that for seasons, yet all of a sudden we are playing our best football so the results don't seem to matter as much? I felt TP's match day notes were embarrassing and totally disrespecting of the intelligence of the Stoke faithful, but we have been here before. That a side, yesterday was a mixed bag and IMO the negatives were a self made problem. 1 - Starting with a 4-5-1 and even switching to what was more of a 4-4-1-1 than a 4-4-2 is not acceptable at home and dictates the mentality of the game which is then difficult to change. 2 - Not playing with 2 wingers (which TP has defended to date due to playing top clubs or away from home) is criminal. 3 - Playing Walters week in week out ( he now has a goal to game ratio of less than 0.15 per game and has played 62 straight - a club record) over strikers and wingers - well it's hard to justify......... 4 - Negative subs, with no reward for performance or consistency. 5 - Lack of open play opportunities, shots on target and goals indicate that we are not playing the improved football some suggest, yesterday was no different against a poor spirited QPR who could have 2 or 3 if they had been more clinical. The positives, clean sheet with Huth and Shawx doing well. Cameron looks good and try's to get forward but he isn't a fullback. Nzonzi is the ideal holding player for Stoke and looks good on the ball and breaking up play and Begovic still shows what an excellent shot stopper he is. Some neat little passages of play and better ball retention and whist Adam is forward thinking, he isn't Fit enough to play TP's game and is a bit of a square peg in a round hole. 3 points is all that matters, the rest is debatable! I have spoken to about 10 people today who sit at various points around the ground (it's noticeable how different the game can seem) and all said it was the worst 90 mins they had seen - some we're/are TP fans. It's probably heightened by our previous performances against Norwich and Sunderand and I think the booing at half time speaks volumes! Our goal was fortunate an anyone who try's to justify that TP has changed the way we play since promotion is an optimist, we merely have better players who are under utilised!
I think Jerome not playing is criminal. When playing 4-5-1 you need someone who can run beyond the back 4 and stretch the game to allow support make up ground - again a fundamental lack of understanding of the game - especially when we have very little inherent pace in the midfield!
Jones is absolute ****e and how Jerome has been treated since joining is a disgrace, he will definately leave and personally I would wish him all the best for the future, and a big sorry wouldnt go amiss from TP for wasting 2 years of his playing career. Shame on you TP, you have now done this to atleast 6 players with obvious talent you thick bastard!!
Ricc, The problem is I don't think "that man" is thick, he bought these players so must have appreciated their qualities, so it must be the "it's my way or the highway" school of malicious, vindictiveness. If you don't do it the Pulis way you don't get do do it at all!!!
Can't argue with you about negative tactics or substitutions, but that's not how I saw the game at all. QPR had some good possession, but non of their chances looked that convincing. I think the stats say they had 18(?) shots, but Begovic only had to made 2-3 decent saves. Could have been different if Taraabt had picked his head up and had a look before taking half his shots, but I guess that's one of the reasons they're dead last.
Sandor, We can't be relying on other teams ineptitude week in week out. That game should have been won far more convincingly and by a larger margin.
I'm well aware of that Jowler, we've been poor for the last few games and that needs to change, I'm just stating that I don't think we were as "up against it" as Ricc and a couple of others have said.
Sandor, I think that a few of us had built it into measuring stick of how far have we come and were disapointed with the outcome, in general we are passing the ball about better and having more possession but we need some convincing wins to settle us down.
I think the fact that we are passing and keeping the ball better highlights the lack of chances we create. Feck only knows why Jerome isn't playing, on paper him and Crouch upfront would be a decent pairing. Pulis seems to be loving his 4-5-1 formation at the moment, if he insists on playing that way, why not give Jerome a go out wide? He's not a winger, but I'm sure he's better at it than Walters, he's the pace for it if nothing else.
I would have Jerome in instead of Walters any day of the week and at home against the run of the mill opposition we should have 2 up front and 2 wingers.
